I0 8 BIRDS IN LEGEND 



tail. The trumpeter promptly retaliated by pushing her mate 

 into the fire, singeing his crest. Thereupon the gods decided 

 that they should remain in this humiliating plight for the rest 

 of their days, and so . . . the curassow wears a curled crest 

 and the trumpeter has a very short tail. 



I am tempted, in spite of my intention to stop here, to 

 annex an elaborate and somewhat amusing creation-myth 

 of the Yocut Indians of southern California, because it is 

 both appropriate and picturesque. It is thus set down by 

 Powers: 19 



Once there was a time when there was nothing in the world 

 but water. About the place where Tulare Lake now is, there 

 was a pole standing far up out of the water, and on this pole, 

 perched a hawk and a crow ... for many ages. At length they 

 wearied of the lonesomeness, and they created the birds which 

 prey on fish, such as the kingfisher, eagle, pelican, and others. 

 Among them was a very small duck, which dived down to the 

 bottom of the water, picked its beak full of mud, came up, died, 

 and lay floating on the water. The hawk and crow then fell 

 to work and gathered from the duck's beak the earth which it 

 had brought up, and commenced making the mountains. They 

 began at the place now known as Ta-hi-cha-pa Pass, and the 

 hawk made the east range, while the crow made the west one. 

 Little by little, as they dropped in the earth, the great mountains 

 grew athwart the face of the waters pushing north. It was a 

 work of many years, but finally they met at Alt. Shasta, and 

 their labors were ended. 



But behold, when they compared their mountains it was 

 found that the crow's was a great deal the larger. Then the 

 hawk said to the crow. "How did this happen, you rascal? I 

 warrant you have been stealing the earth from my bill, and that 

 is why your mountains are the biggest." It was a fact, and the 

 crow laughed in his claws. Then the hawk went and got some 

 Indian tobacco and chewed it and it made him exceedingly wise. 

 So he took hold of the mountains and turned them around in a 

 circle, putting his range in place of the crow's; and that is why 

 the Sierra Nevada is larger than the Coast Range. 



